The present invention relates to a device for stacking golf balls or other balls on a triangular ball support tray in the configuration of a pyramid having a triangular base for use in practice situations.
In golf practice areas, such as a driving range, it is customary to provide a golfer with a supply of practice golf balls in a wire basket or the like. The golfer either takes the balls out of the basket one at a time or tips the basket over and dumps the balls on the ground.
As an alternative to providing balls in buckets, in some applications, balls are stacked at individual practice sites in pyramid configurations using hollow pyramid forms to collect the balls. Examples of such devices are shown in Kelly U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,312, Ziegler U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,173, and Kelly U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,982.
In most golf ball stacking devices, the balls are stacked in the shape of a rectangular pyramid (i.e., a pyramid having a rectangular base) and are placed on dimpled or ridged trays that support the balls. A rectangular pyramid shape, however, provides a less than optimum configuration for stacking round balls together. In rectangular pyramid stacking devices, it is necessary to use a ball supporting tray that has ridges or dimples at spaced locations in order to properly position the balls. Trays having dimples or ridges are more expensive to manufacture than flat trays.
Another concern with some ball stacking devices is that balls may tend to clog in the relatively narrow throat between the inlet funnel at the top of the stacking device and the stack forming shell in the lower portion of the stacking device. Such clogs can be difficult to clear without dumping all of the balls out of the stacking device and starting over and pouring the balls in more slowly. Also, some stacking devices have a throat so large that the stacking of the last balls needs to be done manually, since the throat line is at the second row of balls.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved golf ball stacking device that reduces clogging, permits visual observation of stacking inside the device, provides internal access for adjusting ball positions, and provides a triangular base shape that does not require dimples or ridges to position balls, thereby reducing the cost of manufacture.